The many cultures of South and Central America and the Caribbean islands blend American Indian, African and European (particularly Spanish and Portuguese) traditions. In folk music, the particular combination of elements varies from region to region, from the purely Indian forms of highland Bolivia and Amazon rain forests peoples to the mestizo (‘mixed’) music of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, the largely Hispanic music of Argentina, and the distinctive style of Brazil, which blends African and Portuguese forms.
African-Hispanic folk music is especially important in Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. African-American communities in Brazil preserve styles close to their African counterparts, with driving rhythms using syncopations, responsorial forms and the dominance of percussion instruments. The combination of Portuguese with African traits is particularly apparent in Brazilian folk dances, including the samba, batuque, jongo, luindu and more recent urban forms such as the bossa-nova.
Instrumental music is more important among South American Indians than those of the North. Indigenous instruments include flutes, whistles, rattles, maracas, trumpets of simple clay, bark or bamboo, conch-shell trumpets and various drum types including the double-headed frame drum.
South American Music
The many cultures of South and Central America and the Caribbean islands blend American Indian, African and European (particularly Spanish and Portuguese) traditions. In folk music, the particular combination of elements varies from region to region, from the purely Indian forms of highland Bolivia and Amazon rain forests peoples to the mestizo (‘mixed’) music of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, the largely Hispanic music of Argentina, and the distinctive style of Brazil, which blends African and Portuguese forms.African-Hispanic folk music is especially important in Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. African-American communities in Brazil preserve styles close to their African counterparts, with driving rhythms using syncopations, responsorial forms and the dominance of percussion instruments. The combination of Portuguese with African traits is particularly apparent in Brazilian folk dances, including the samba, batuque, jongo, luindu and more recent urban forms such as the bossa-nova.
Instrumental music is more important among South American Indians than those of the North. Indigenous instruments include flutes, whistles, rattles, maracas, trumpets of simple clay, bark or bamboo, conch-shell trumpets and various drum types including the double-headed frame drum.
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